Soccer Ad Idea: The Beautiful Game (Girls or Football)

Recently there was an influx of traffic to my site at this page, Euro 2008 girls. It’s no surprise that sex sells, but to the degree at which it generates buzz, at times, is a bit surprising. I guess it shouldn’t be so much of a surprise, but it’s like an avalanche, at once it’s quiet and still, and then suddenly there’s a rush of falling snow.

So it goes for international soccer tournaments these days. Sex is part of the tournament more than ever I'd say. There’s the beautiful game on the pitch and more and more, the beautiful girls in the stands. It’s like a girls gone wild audition – girls in the stands trying to top one another, preening and painting themselves before the game to grab the eye of the camera and end up on the jumbo screen. Did ESPN recruit cameramen from Univision to capture the games? They’re always adept at finding the Latinas in the stands during soccer matches.

There’s even an influx of prostitutes to the areas where the games will take place and more alcohol is consumed – the two go together if you haven’t heard. Take the World Cup in Germany in 2006:

Some expect as many as 40,000 additional prostitutes may flock to Germany during the month-long soccer tournament to augment Germany's 400,000 legal sex workers.

And so it goes for the cameras at Euro 2008, as they scan the stands for soccer fans. They have a tendency, and thankfully, to hold still and hover on the games beautiful girls. And the beautiful girls as fans of soccer seems to have grown in stature, it’s more accepted or more a part of the game, not like cheerleaders, which some MLS teams have (Chivas U.S.A.), but as honorary, required and growing in numbers, beloved guests. It used just be the Brazilian girls who wore less and less for the games and flashed their beautiful smiles. Now it’s the Poles, Russians, Turks and every other country that’s participating. And a skillful cameraman will pick them out.

However, if you scan the stands in the EPL, for the most part it’s all men. Or perhaps it’s just that the lack of women in the stands makes the few that are there stand out and shine.

For the international game though, more and more girls are getting into the game, perhaps not for the sport per say but for the players, and their tattoo adorned bodies. And over in the MLS, there’s a player who wrestles up a certain amount of intrigue from the better half set. I don’t have the stats, but I’m guessing Beckham has brought in more women fans to the game than Hillary pulled in the Democratic primary.

Becks portrayed a racy ad in San Francisco and the girls flocked as if it was a pilgrimage of lust. Is this a change in behavior for women? I thought women were less visually simulated. They don’t frequent strip clubs for instance, as men do. It’s not in their DNA as much as a man’s, but that might just be a fallacy. Look at the looks on some of these girls below.

And just ask the Italians about beautiful girls getting into the game, two ladies rushed a training session as they were preparing for the Euros. Is that why they lost to Spain? They were a bit distracted in their pre-tournament preparation.

But the cameraman controls what you see and don’t see while you’re watching the match. In the Holland versus Russia game, the camera hovered on a brunette with downcast puppy dog eyes, nearly in tears, just before Ruud Van Nistelrooy tied the game and gave the Dutch fans life again.

In the Italy versus French game, the cameras flashed to an absolutely beautiful French or Italian woman, my guess being Italian, and that was one time where I didn’t care if they went back to the game or not. The camera could have stayed there for a while longer and drifted back to the game for just the highlights, the shots on goal, and then quickly back to the girl.

Ahead of the actual Germany versus Austria match, there was some beautiful ladies playing the beautiful game in the sand. It's was deemed sexy soccer, as German and Austrian strippers wore just paint while they battled it out in a version of beach soccer.

But here’s my call to Nike or Heineken or one of those other big soccer advertisers, here’s a commercial idea for you, where a sexy girl will sell whatever it is your proffering. I mentioned this in a previous piece, but wanted to expand upon it below.

New Soccer Ad Idea

They show the soccer game for a while, then flash to groups watching the game in pubs and restaurants, all the fans on the edge of their seats, hanging on every moment. Then an ad comes up for a minute blocking the game. All the fans of people watching in the bars all over the world whistle and complain—yell and curse at the TV screens.

Again the camera goes away from the soccer game to some fans cheering in the stands - like some kind of glitch. And again, the crowd jeers and complains at the pubs, as the cameras steer away from the actual game, and during a crucial moment when one team was on the verge of scoring. The camara quickly flashs back to focusing on the soccer game and a corner kick, a shot on goal, a few tackles and free kicks. Next someone walks in front of the TV screen at the pub and everyone yells and screams in the bar. It's not a beautiful watress, who might have gotten a pass.

Later, the camera flashes to a gorgeous girl in the stands for a moment, just a quick shot and then back to the soccer game. The pubs are dead silent, no jeering no whistling, maybe one or two subtle whistles at the girl like they’re construction workers watching a beautiful women pass by, but not a whistle in frustration at missing the game. Then the camera goes back to the game and the crowd yells and jeers. The camera goes back to the girl and the fans are quiet again, all still. Then the players stop playing and look up at the jumpo screen at the girl on the screen.

This is all done in a subtle way, exemplifying the soccer game more than anything, and the passion of the fans. But also extolling how a beautiful women can stop everything, even the beautiful game.

What product is this ad a promotion for? Maybe she picks up a bottle of beer or is wearing a certain brand on her shirt. That's the easy part, figuring out what product to plug in.

More and more the beautiful game is synonymous with both the sport and the women who follow it, or at least the ones the cameraman picks out, especially during the World Cup or tournaments in Europe.